Operation Elkayam ( he, מבצע אלקיים) also known as the Khan Yunis raid, was an Israeli military operation that targeted Egyptian military positions in the
Khan Yunis
Khan Yunis ( ar, خان يونس, also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus; translation: ''Caravansary fJonah'') is a city in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Yunis had a population of 142,6 ...
area. The successful operation resulted in the destruction of Egyptian military installations as well as the deaths of seventy-two Egyptian soldiers. There was one Israeli fatality.
Background
The
1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
resulted in a decisive Israeli victory. However, the Arab nations remained intransigent and were only willing to sign armistice agreements with Israel. Thus, a static situation of “no war, no peace,” emerged. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of Arab refugees now camped alongside Israel’s porous borders. The refugees lived in squalor, were kept under martial law and were prevented from gaining citizenship in their respective Arab host countries. Arab governments, in particular Egypt, sensing the refugees’ discontent, capitalized on the opportunity to recruit embittered Palestinian Arabs for terrorist actions against Israel. At first, the infiltrations and border transgressions took the form of petty banditry and thievery. However, by 1954, Egyptian military intelligence was taking an active role in providing various forms of support for Palestinian Arab (
fedayeen
Fedayeen ( ar, فِدائيّين ''fidāʼīyīn'' "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign.
Etymology
The term ''fedayi'' is derived from Arabic: '' ...
) terrorist activity. After one such atrocity, Israel decided to take decisive action against Egypt for its sponsorship of terror and initiated
Operation Black Arrow
Operation Black Arrow ( he, מבצע חץ שחור ''Mivtza Ḥetz Shaḥor'') was an Israeli military operation carried out in Gaza (while under Egyptian control) on 28 February 1955. The operation targeted the Egyptian Army. Thirty-eight Egypt ...
. Despite its success,
Operation Black Arrow
Operation Black Arrow ( he, מבצע חץ שחור ''Mivtza Ḥetz Shaḥor'') was an Israeli military operation carried out in Gaza (while under Egyptian control) on 28 February 1955. The operation targeted the Egyptian Army. Thirty-eight Egypt ...
did not put a halt to Egyptian sponsorship of
fedayeen
Fedayeen ( ar, فِدائيّين ''fidāʼīyīn'' "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign.
Etymology
The term ''fedayi'' is derived from Arabic: '' ...
terror raids and border transgressions. In late August 1955, attacks by Egyptian sponsored fedayeen near the Israeli towns of
Rishon LeZion
Rishon LeZion ( he, רִאשׁוֹן לְצִיּוֹן , ''lit.'' First to Zion, Arabic: راشون لتسيون) is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan ar ...
and
Rechovot
Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of .
Etymology
Israel Belkind, foun ...
resulted in the deaths of eleven Israelis. It was therefore decided that an operation, larger in scope and size than anything previously embarked upon, was warranted.
The battle
On the night of August 31, 1955, paratroops of Israel’s vaunted
890th Battalion assembled to attack Egyptian military installations in
Khan Yunis
Khan Yunis ( ar, خان يونس, also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus; translation: ''Caravansary fJonah'') is a city in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Yunis had a population of 142,6 ...
. Among their objectives was a
Tegart fort
A Tegart fort is a type of militarized police fort constructed throughout Palestine during the British Mandatory period, initiated as a measure against the 1936–1939 Arab Revolt.
Etymology
The forts are named after their designer, British p ...
which housed a company of infantry as well as headquarters personnel. A second objective was the taking of an Egyptian emplacement, code-named Position 132, which dominated the Khan Yunis road and was deemed vital to securing the safe withdrawal of the troops. The raid was codenamed Operation Elkayam, in tribute to Saadya Elkayam, a company commander who died in the Black Arrow operation. During the late evening, a mechanized force led by commander
Mordechai "Motta" Gur set out for the fort and surrounding installations while forces led by
Rafael "Raful" Eitan secured Position 132. Another force set up an ambush site in case the Egyptians decided to send a relief column. By 22:45 hours, the fort and surrounding emplacements had been secured. Position 132 had been abandoned by the Egyptians and the Israelis destroyed the Egyptian emplacements there. Explosive charges were set and the Tergart fort along with other nearby Egyptian emplacements were dynamited and reduced to rubble. The Egyptians suffered seventy-two killed.
[P.R. Kumaraswamy, 144][Derori, 142] There was one Israeli fatality.
Aftermath
Operation Elkayam was the first time that the Israelis employed mounted armor in their reprisal raids. The raid itself was a resounding success clearly reflected by the lopsided casualty count in Israel’s favor. The operation prompted the Egyptians to reassess their sponsorship of fedayeen operations and led to a U.N. mediated ceasefire on September 4.
President
Nasser halted fedayeen infiltration from the Egyptian border resulting in a temporary lull in fedayeen attacks.
Nevertheless, other Egyptian provocations, including the blockade of the
Gulf of Eilat
The Gulf of Aqaba ( ar, خَلِيجُ ٱلْعَقَبَةِ, Khalīj al-ʿAqabah) or Gulf of Eilat ( he, מפרץ אילת, Mifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian ...
, were factors that led to Israel’s
Operation Kadesh
The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
and the decisive defeat of the Egyptian army in the Sinai Peninsula.
[Schiff p 63-69]
References
{{reflist
Arab–Israeli conflict
1955 in Israel
1955 in Egypt
Reprisal operations (Israel)
Counterterrorism
Israel Defense Forces
Conflicts in 1955
Khan Yunis